Seconded! Congratulations on the double digits!
It's weird to think that I've been dead longer than you were when I first joined. It seemed like everyone has been around so much longer.

And I wonder what it says about me that I also found the Downs through an unrelated Google search, and had to stick my not too well thought out opinion into the first thread I saw. Your story is way better, and as you say, you can always blame the Holy Spirit.

__________________
- These taxes, they are like sacrifices to tribal gods?
- Well, roughly speaking, but paying taxes is more painful.

Location: Unattended on the railway station, in the litter at the dancehall

Posts: 2,904

Thirded! Happy deathday, Legate, rest in peace and may the Fff-, er, Flame of Anor always be with you! Thank you for the story of your first visit to the Downs - the subject of your query strikes me as characteristic of both yourself and the forum, which has always been a good place to explore the spiritual and philosophical ramifications of Tolkien's legendarium. I also took the time to dig up your old trhead about Saruman's interest in the Shire and couldn't help smiling at the discussion of Saruman's smoking habit, which reminded me of my own first post here, answering a riddle of yours about this very subject.

Belated condolences also to G55, sally, Nerwen and Agan (how could I have missed this?)!

__________________The 21st century is when everything changes, you've got to be ready.

Thank you all for the warm, ee, cold wishes It has been truly a gift to be in such a company.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

I also took the time to dig up your old trhead about Saruman's interest in the Shire and couldn't help smiling at the discussion of Saruman's smoking habit, which reminded me of my own first post here, answering a riddle of yours about this very subject.

Now you made me look it up, and I got sort of stuck reading the surrounding couple of pages. What fun! What a thread! And what an entry from you

__________________"But it is not your own Shire," said Gildor. "Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out."

As for reps, I believe there is something about being lost at Emyn Muil, but maybe that comes only later or I am just making it up.

__________________"But it is not your own Shire," said Gildor. "Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out."

Dear me, I have become so treeish here that I completely missed my 15th death day last month! I may neglect this site, life being what it is, but I will never forget it and the role it has played in my life. Why, right now I am writing a chapter for an upcoming book on Middle-earth and music!

Without the Downs, I would never have made so many friends in real life, both Downers and other fans with whom I came into contact because it all started here. I would not be a published author (non-fiction) and I would certainly not have learned so much about the internet and how to use at least some of it! My book shelves would be emptier and so would have been many delightful hours I spent discovering new aspects of Tolkien and his works. And I would not have travelled to some of the wonderful places I have seen, either visiting friends or seeing Middle-earthian sights.

So here's to the Downs, which will be 17 years old soon - almost of age in modern human terms. May it live - oops! - moulder in peace for many years to come!

__________________
'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...'

Location: Polishing the stars. Well, somebody has to do it; they're looking a little bit dull.

Posts: 2,897

So, I did miss my death day by a month...but I realized today that though my activity on the Barrow Downs has been spotty, I still nevertheless have officially been a member of the forum for over 15 years now. Which means I have been "undead" for longer than I had been alive when I initially joined. Whoa.

So, I did miss my death day by a month...but I realized today that though my activity on the Barrow Downs has been spotty, I still nevertheless have officially been a member of the forum for over 15 years now. Which means I have been "undead" for longer than I had been alive when I initially joined. Whoa.

Yeah. Whoa.

And happy deathday!

__________________
- These taxes, they are like sacrifices to tribal gods?
- Well, roughly speaking, but paying taxes is more painful.

I awaited August 2 with excitement, because that day marked my 10th (10th!) deathday. One decade on the Downs, the anniversary to which I had looked so forward to celebrating. The day just passed by without me noticing, and next thing I knew, the 2nd had come and gone. Anyway, here's to the Downs, here's to another decade!

__________________

The Party Doesn't Start Until You're Dead.

Please visit TeaGEW's! Tea party jewellery by yours truly! A real shop, where you can spend real money!

it just struck me today that the oldest members of the forum (and in fact the forum itself) are turning 18 this year, a sort of Downer Coming of Age. Now we have a LOTR coming of age thread for becoming "mature" readers of Tolkien, but not really a way to recognize the coming of age of Downers. And of course it's more difficult to judge that. The Downs has many members who drop off never to return again, many of them barely making a couple posts before disappearing; it's easy to have made an account 18 years ago, it takes a bit more effort to actually be present for 18 years. And like in Fangorn Forest, some once active Downers become more and more treeish, but also some former lurkers become active posters. People come in and out as the currents take them. And sometimes you think that a Downer has become sleepier than Bilbo in ROTK and you're just about ready to give up on having a conversation with them, when out of the blue they wake up and make a Red Book-worthy post or score a record on the Fun and Games subforums.

So here's to all the Downers who are coming of age in their undead lives this year!

__________________
- These taxes, they are like sacrifices to tribal gods?
- Well, roughly speaking, but paying taxes is more painful.

I don't know which is more amazing: that an internet Tolkien forum has lasted so long, or that I still check it every day after all that time.

I really miss a lot of the old members, and the ones who predate my joining have nearly all been absent a long time. It's strange to think how much has changed in my own life since. I actually remember exactly the circumstances of how I stumbled upon the Downs, and my tentative first posts.

If someone had said back then I'd still be posting well into my forties, I'd have thought it as unlikely as a tree-man walking in the Northfarthing.